Posted by yznhymer on August 5, 2007, at 11:47:56
In reply to Re: Unused meds to get rid of.........any1 interested?, posted by rovers95 on August 5, 2007, at 10:25:53
Despite your good intentions, I recommend following James' excellent advice.
I have always destroyed my unused meds by flushing them down the toilet. Maybe all those flushed meds explain the loopy behavior of the sea lions in SF Bay! (It doesn't explain San Franciscans, however, since our drinking water comes from mountain sources). I'm sure there are environmental reasons not to dispose of meds this way but I've always been more concerned about somebody, perhaps a kid, getting a hold of medication that might be harmful from the trash, remote as that possibility is. On the other hand its not entirely inconceivable. Just last week, I threw out an empty prescription box for EMSAM (in the recycle bin) and a few days later found it laying out in the street, probably dropped there by sloppy trash collectors.
Over a 20 year period, I've only had two doctors bend the rules and ask for my unused meds. One was a psychiatrist and the other a veterinarian. In both cases, they knew me well, the meds were VERY expensive, and the prescriptions barely touched by me. They were able to pass them on to a patient (my meds) and pet owner (my cat's meds) respectively who were in very dire financial circumstances. I'd be surprised if this ever happened again and I wouldn't seek to initiate anything like this.
Don't feel bad about destroying your unused meds. The meds you listed are easily available to those who need them and relatively cheap besides. The rules in place are there to protect everybody concerned - by destroying your meds you are doing your part to keep that system successful.
Y
poster:yznhymer
thread:774090
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070730/msgs/774114.html